Bible Study Verse
I John 2:12
I am writing to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of His Name. (NIV)
Thoughts
Recently, my son and I were working on building a permanent tree stand to bow hunt out of. I was up a ladder about 18 feet up the tree, when he asked me to come down to the ground to check something out. By the tone of his voice, I knew he had found something of interest. So, I scampered down the tree to see what he had found.
When I got there, he pointed at the beach tree and asked me to take a look. There on the tree was clearly a scar that was left from a bear claw. It was clear as day and looked like the bear had taken a good swipe at the tree. At that point, we started to look up the tree. All the way up the tree as far as we could see were bear claw marks one after another after another.
I climbed back up into the blind to see how high the marks continued. Even from there, the scar marks continued for as high as I could see. It looked like the bear had gone up to the very top. Something must have startled this bear pretty good to cause it to climb all the way up, leaving such clear scars behind on the tree.
(Dave M)
Action Point
The scars that we looked at were relatively old. The marks were not fresh, and the tree had filled in the claw gaps over the course of time with a darker bark. Time had passed, but the scar on the tree lasted to the very day we found them there.
Too many times, we hear people say something to the effect of "time heals all wounds." Time might create distance from whatever caused the scar, but it doesn't take the scar away. That's the beauty of what Christ did for us on Calvary. He put Himself up on that Cross as a sacrifice for each of us to take away the sins of the world - that includes yours and mine.
He didn't just leave our scars there and cover them up over time. If we ask Jesus for forgiveness, the sins are gone - removed - nonexistent!!! Now we may have to carry the consequences of the sin with us throughout our lives, but as far as Christ is concerned, the sins have been removed - never to be seen again!!! That's the power of His forgiveness and what He did on that Cross.
Don't ever think that you've sinned so big that Christ can't take the sin away. That's not true in any way, shape, or form. If you know that you are trapped in sin today, go to Christ right now in prayer and ask Him to forgive you fully and completely. You don't have to walk around scarred!!!
Sportsmen's Tip of the Day
Try to preserve your hunting area as a sanctuary for about a month before you actually want to hunt it. Get all your work done early (plots, blinds...) and then leave it alone.
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